Red Sox Magazine v3 - The Jimmy Fund

Mike gets together at the 2000 Jimmy
Fund Golf Program appreciation night with
another great Boston athlete and Dana-
Farber supporter: former Boston Patriot
Ron Burton. (Steve Gilbert photo)
billboard in right field and the sharp new 50th
anniversary logo on the Green Monster; vintage
collection boxes throughout the park;
and countless player visits to kids and adults
undergoing treatment at DFCI.
Financial contributions resulting from all
these efforts have led to rising cure rates for
many cancers – and countless lives saved. The
bond is likely the longest running and most
profitable pairing of any North American pro
sports team with a charity, and for Andrews,
playing an important role in its operations tops
any of the thrills he experienced in the major
leagues.
“I’m a lucky guy to have had the chance
at two careers I’ve enjoyed deeply,” says
Andrews, who also had big-league stints with
the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics
before joining the Jimmy Fund staff in 1979.
“I was able to play professional baseball for 13
years and appear in a couple of World Series,
win one of them [with Oakland in ’73], and
make an All-Star team. But there is no question
that being part of Dana-Farber’s mission
and growth has been the most rewarding part
of my professional life.”
First Impressions
A Los Angeles native who starred in football,
basketball, and baseball in high school,
Andrews was an All-American end at El
Andrews meets up with another Jimmy Fund icon – Einar Gustafson, the real
“Jimmy”– at the end of the 1998 Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. (Steve
Gilbert photo)
“I’m a lucky guy to have had the chance at two careers
I’ve enjoyed deeply,” says Andrews…but there is no question
that being part of Dana-Farber’s mission and growth has
been the most rewarding part of my professional life.”
Camino College before turning down a football
scholarship to UCLA to marry his high
school sweetheart Marilyn Flynn and sign
with the Red Sox in December 1961. He
made it up to Triple-A Toronto by 1965 as a
shortstop, but the presence of Rico Petrocelli
in Boston prompted the organization to switch
Andrews to second base. After Toronto manager
Dick Williams was promoted to the parent
club for the ’67 season, he handed a starting
job to the scrappy 23-year-old rookie who
had just five games of big-league experience.
The Sox had finished deep in the standings
for the past several seasons – including
ninth place the year before – but the tide was
about to turn. A very young squad led by outfield
star Carl Yastrzemski and pitching ace
Jim Lonborg was soon the surprise of baseball,
and Boston spent the summer battling several
other clubs for the American League pennant
while recapturing the hearts of fans who had
largely deserted Fenway after Ted Williams’
1960 retirement. For the first time in a decade,
the park was packed on a regular basis.
Andrews was in the thick of the action
nearly every day at second, and the baptism
under fire included an introduction to the
team’s most ardent cause.
“When you joined the Red Sox, you
became quickly acquainted with the Jimmy
MIKE ANDREWS
Mike does first-pitch honors on 2002 Opening Day at
Pupque Park, a Wiffle Ball field replica of Fenway Park that
has inspired more than $59,000 in donations for the Jimmy
Fund. (Gisela Mohring photo)
Always willing to do anything for the cause, Mike plays
short-order cook during the 2001 Pan-Massachusetts
Challenge bike-a-thon to benefit Dana-Farber. (Karen
Cummings photo)
2003 RED SOX MAGAZINE 15